iPods and Other Annoyances
by violet-phoenix-rose
Summary: Fred and George are desperate for things to do, so they decide to find new uses for certain Muggle items. For two challenges at once. R&R please.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: this is for two challenges at once – the object challenge (I think the real name is Meet The Muggles, but I'm not sure) and the challenge in which you work on something you're bad at. There will be one if not two more chapters to this one, which is going to be longer than I expected. If you have any suggestions for damage the twins could do with an iPod, put it in your review.

The twins couldn't have been in more trouble. After a particularly bad incident involving fireworks, most of their personal possessions had been confiscated for the rest of the summer. This would not have been so bad if it had been the middle of August instead of the middle of June. Leaving those two up to their own devices for ten weeks was the worst thing anyone could do to their family members, as it turned out.

Admittedly, they still had some of their things. Out of all their talents, finding proper hiding places was one of the most frequently used. So long as no one went rummaging around in their wardrobe, they were safe, and a person would have to be crazy to mess with their wardrobe in the first place. Unfortunately, their more entertaining items weren't in the wardrobe at all. One of them had decided to hide the stash of fireworks in their little sister's bureau, which would have been fine if the fireworks hadn't blown up the bureau.

Among the more interesting items they still had was a small stash of normal money, which they had obtained in various ways over the years. It was rather like an emergency fund for them, since their mother would wring their necks if she saw them having it converted. But the idea of using it in its current form hadn't yet occurred to them.

Then, at the end of the third week of June, it did. "I'm desperate," George muttered after digging through the wardrobe in his and Fred's bedroom and finding nothing interesting. "All we've got left is our little stash of Muggle money in the pockets of my best school robe and a handful of fireworks in Mum's wedding china."

"I wouldn't risk the fireworks if I were you, George," Fred said as he darted into the bedroom, slamming and locking the door behind him. "Mum's on the warpath again on account of that blasted feline that keeps turning up and eating the herb garden."

"She was the idiot who thought catnip would keep squirrels away," George said under his breath. "Any ideas on something to do? I'm bored out of my mind at the moment."

"Say," Fred suggested, "what if we use the money for its intended purpose?"

"And how exactly are we going to do that?" George asked. "If we go farther than a mile from the house, Mum'll kill us. Plus that, we don't even have that much money."

"I wasn't discussing the purchase of a new item at a shop," Fred said excitedly. "In fact, I'm thinking of the opposite of that. A family not far from us is having a rummage sale tomorrow morning, and who knows what we could come up with."

George thought it was a brilliant idea, and the plan was set. The next morning, the twins slipped out of the house, telling the rest of the family that they were going for a walk. No one had any idea what they were up to, which was how they liked it.

"I wonder what this does," George said a minute or two after he and Fred arrived at the rummage sale. He was going through a box of electronics, and the item in question was a turquoise iPod.

"It's a music player," the woman who was having the rummage sale said after fully taking in George's comment. "My son says turquoise is too girly, but he left his music on it still the same. Look, since you seem interested, I'll charge you half price for it."

Fred noticed what was going on, checked out the iPod, and handed over the five pounds that it cost. "I think we had a good raid of the rummage sale," he said as he and George walked home, the iPod tucked safely in the back pocket of his jeans. "A new object to annoy the family with, and twenty pounds to spare."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Three days later, boredom hit again, this time harder than before. This time, the fireworks were even less of an option. Ginny had found them quite by accident and threatened to tell their mother if Fred and George so much as mentioned the idea of setting them off. "This is pathetic," Fred moaned. "We've got nothing to do, too much time on our hands, and nothing we can use."

As if by fate, the iPod fell off the wardrobe and onto George's head. "Hey, wait," he said, an idea coming to him. "How about we alter this thing a bit. I've heard of people who've turned these into alarm clocks."

"But still," Fred said, being reasonable for once in his life, "what would we do with an alarm clock?"

"It's not what WE'D do," George said as his eyes lit up. "It's what we can do for someone else. Let's see, who's enough of a pest that it'd be worth it?"

Fred didn't have to answer. Percy had been extremely secretive and even more of a prat than normal. It was finally time to give him some well-deserved comeuppance.

A week later, the iPod alarm clock was planted. It was unclear what was more surprising – the fact that it had taken a week or the fact that it was fully functional. So long as the alarm clock wasn't disturbed, it would go off at five in the morning, playing songs from The Sound Of Music. Percy hated musicals, especially ones with a lot of young children in them. It was perfect.

The same day that the alarm clock was being planted, the Weasley clan got an unexpected houseguest. Whether or not Angelina Johnston had let the family know she was coming was questionable. Either way, her parents were celebrating their 25th anniversary in Italy, and she needed a place to stay for ten days. A camp bed was set up in Ginny's bedroom, and the insanity began.

Fred and George found out about Angelina's arrival at exactly the wrong time – as they were about to enter Percy's bedroom to put the iPod under his mattress. She came sauntering upstairs, suitcase in hand, just aware enough to notice her friends. "Do I want to know what you're doing with that gizmo?" she asked as she took in the comical scene of the twins attempting to pick Percy's lock.

Fred, who had never been good at comebacks, replied with, "Do I want to know what you're doing in our house?"

"My parents are in Italy on holiday, and for some odd reason I wasn't allowed to come," Angelina snapped. "So, what is that thingy?"

George, knowing what would happen if Angelina found out, decided to take over. "It's a present for Percy," he said through clenched teeth.

"Present?" Angelina was curious. "Go ahead, knock yourselves out."

At five the next morning, the alarm clock worked as planned. Seventeen minutes later, Fred and George were yanked out of their beds by a very angry woman usually known as their mother. "What on Earth did you DO?" she yelled at them. "I know it was you two, because your younger brother and sister are too smart to put a noisemaking alarm clock under Percy's mattress."

"It was a present for him," Fred said, making up his plan as he went. "It's our fault that other alarm clock doesn't work, so we came up with a new one for him."

Mrs. Weasley was even angrier now. "Did he ASK for an alarm clock?" she bellowed. "Did he say something that made you think he'd appreciate being woken up at five in the morning and hearing songs from musicals? I most certainly think not. I'll deal with you two later, once I get rid of that noisemaking device!" With that, she stormed off.

A/N: A little shorter this time, but there wasn't quite as much to do. If you have any ideas for the final chapter, let me know.


End file.
